Blanche was raped in her adolescence by a servant, a cowherd named Baptiste. Her family, anxious to hide the shame that this scandal has cast on their reputation, locks the young girl in their manor, thinking that four walls are enough to silence the mockery. One day, Blanche, whom the whole country nicknames "Madame Baptiste", tries to commit suicide, consumed by the painful memory she carries within her. A man saves her and, charmed by the woman who now owes him her life, he asks her to marry him, thus defying the moral barriers set by public opinion. Life now seems happy for Blanche, but one day, at the agricultural show, the insult comes again: "Madame Baptiste!"...
A story of passion, rivalry, love, and friendship. Jan Banas, acclaimed Silesian football player of the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to makes his dreams come true on and off the field. Stars is the story of a great love between young people torn by passion and ambition.
Running the streets of Rome in 1960, an unknown, barefooted Ethiopian man stunned the world by winning Olympic gold in the marathon. Overnight, Abebe Bikila became a sports legend. A hero in his own country and to the continent, Bikila was the first African to win a gold medal, and four years later in Tokyo would become the first person in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon.
In 1900, the eyes of the whole world are on Paris. The World's Fair welcomed 50 million amazed visitors, and the city celebrated itself in a glamorous era. This period went down in history as the "Belle Époque." Elaborately restored and colorized historical photographs bring to life the exciting life in Paris between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of World War I in 1914. Bicycles, cars, airplanes, moving pictures, newly founded film studios, revolutionary composers and painters, avant-garde ballet performances, fashion houses, summer resorts on the Atlantic coast – life was intoxicating. People celebrate in the variety shows, cabarets, and revue theaters of Paris. Moulin Rouge, Folies Bergères, Bal Tabarin—in Paris, the nights are long and life is too short to sleep through. It is a dance on the volcano, given the political developments in the world.
In 1456, French King Charles VII recalls the story of how he met the 17-year-old peasant girl Joan of Arc, entrusted her with the command of the French Army, and ultimately burned her at the stake as a heretic.
Kitagawa Utamaro is a famous ukiyo-e artist known for his paintings of beautiful women. The courtesan who became his model became even more popular. Ocho, a resident of an apartment building, hears about this and secretly plans to follow Otose, the owner of Mizuta-ya, who became famous as Utamaro's model. At this time, the Kano school, headed by Kano Eikawa, which was under the control of the shogunate, is dissatisfied with Utamaro's fame and tries to compromise him…
During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.
The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.
A roman consul is sent to Gaul to investigate the theft of gold shipments. He discovers that the gold is being stolen by a tribe of barbarians — whose leader is the governor of Gaul.
In 1857, at the height of his fame and fortune, novelist and social critic Charles Dickens meets and falls in love with teenage stage actress Nelly Ternan. As she becomes the focus of his heart and mind, as well as his muse, painful secrecy is the price both must pay.
Edmund Dantes is falsely accused by those jealous of his good fortune, and is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the notorious island prison, Chateau d'If. While imprisoned, he meets the Abbe Faria, a fellow prisoner whom everyone believes to be mad. The Abbe tells Edmund of a fantastic treasure hidden away on a tiny island, that only he knows the location of. After many years in prison, the old Abbe dies, and Edmund escapes disguised as the dead body. Now free, Edmund must find the treasure the Abbe told him of, so he can use the new-found wealth to exact revenge on those who have wronged him.
1927. Spain under the Primo de Rivera Dictatorship. The great actress, Margarita Xirgu and her company are about to perform "Maria Pineda" by a young Federico Garcia Lorca. The Dictatorship cannot tolerate it, but the actress, Margarita Xirgu, in the name of freedom will stand her ground.
After Turkey’s february 1997 military intervention, Hilal and Fatma left their town to study at university in Istanbul. Feza lives downstairs in their lodgings, has fled as village where was cruelly bullied for being a transgender woman. Hilal chooses to help Feza and Fatma.
The story about a very small god-forgotten village in Siberia reflects the history of Russia from the beginning of the century till the early 1980s. Three generations try to find the land of happiness and to give it to the people. One builds the road through taiga to the star over horizon, the second 'build communism' and the third searches for oil.
A small village in Navarre, Spain, XVII century. Garazi's grandmother is burned at the stake when accussed of being a witch and convicted by an inquisitor, something that brings Garazi under suspicion and eventually into prison, where she is atrociously tortured and humiliated.